Spirals to Insanity
by Silverflower8910
Summary: They think we're crazy.  We know we're not.  Pokemon are real and we can see them.  They don't believe us.  And now we're going to prove them wrong. Very AU, characters in a mental asylum. Rated T for violence.
1. Chapter 1: Ash

Spirals to Insanity

Chapter One: Ash

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN POKÉMON OR ITS CHARACTERS!**

Sunlight poured through my window, welcoming everything good, but today was not good at all. Today was the day of the physical examination. This meant that they pulled every patient out from their "room", more like cell, to be looked over by a doctor. I did not want to go. I never want to go. They would drag me to the center of a crowded room, where all the nutcases chattered around like parakeets. I would be looked over by an elderly man, his thinning white hair glowing darkly in the odd lighting of this place. His eyes, whose sight was fading, glanced over my body, all around my different contours, and then I would be sent on my way. To the next woman. A thick, heavyset interviewer who would question me, peaking over her clipboard as I stuttered out my responses. Then I would be sent back to my cell to rest. That was how physical examinations went in a mental asylum. This cruel prison barred me in, but I wasn't insane, no where near it.

Pacing across my small cell floor, heart pumping in anticipation for when my door would creak open, I imagined my responses for the interviewer. Perhaps, if everything went smoothly, I would be allowed out; but that was an unattainable dream. _They_ thought I was crazy, so I had to stay. Even though _I _knew I wasn't. When I came up blank for interview responses, I glanced over at my roommate, the one sharing my cell.

"Any ideas?" I thought silently to myself.

The creature resting on my bed sat up and shook out her silky purple fur, gently glimmering in the sunlight of my small window. "No," was her quiet response back into my head. I watched her rise and stretch, raising her haunches in a cat-like manner. She leaped down from my bed and shook out her paws one at a time. She glanced up at me with her opaque, onyx eyes.

"What do you hear?" I asked her without speaking.

Her large purple ears pricked out as she held her long tail in the air. With a worried glance at me, she replied, "They're coming." This too was silent, and her gentle, sweet voice echoed inside my brain.

"So soon?" I inquired without a sound. My partner bunched up her back legs and jumped up on my bed again, her small cat-like head facing my iron barred window.

"Yes," she whispered delicately inside my head.

"Well then you should hide!" I yelled aloud, running over to the side of my bed, grasping the edges frantically. "They can't find you! They'll take you away like…" My shouts trailed off as I remembered my other roommates and their fates.

"Yes," she replied, dipping her pale, purple head in respect and she hopped down from my bed and slid underneath it without another sound. Just as her long, forked tail had safely been concealed, a large fist pounded on my door.

"Alright Dawn, you in there? Time for your examination!" An overly sweet voice cooed to me like a child as gruff hands clasped my wrists to bind them together. Ah, the wonderful caretakers Jessie and James. I called them Team Rocket, but not to their faces.

They pulled me away from my cell, but I managed to cast a longing glance back before the door closed and I saw two opaque, onyx eyes staring at me.

On my right, James snorted at me, "What? Miss your friend already? They didn't come along with you this time? Heh, at least we won't have to deal with some blue penguin like last time." I could hear the dry sarcasm in his voice and rage burned throughout my body. I hated them, my caretakers. They stole my friends away from me, but I wasn't about to let them get my current roommate. It was safer for her back in our cell.

On my left, Jessie cut in, laughing, "No, no. Last time was the yellow mouse. The one before that was the blue penguin."

"Oh right, I forgot the yellow mouse!" exclaimed James. "I wonder what it is this time. Hmm Dawn, are ya going to tell us what your friend is this time? What thing…wait, what did she call 'em?"

"Pokémon!" Jessie could barely control her laughter.

"Oh of course! Pokémon! So Dawnie, what _Pokémon_ do you see?"

The red flood of anger that had been building inside of me let loose. I couldn't stand their incessant teasing. All I can remember now is lashing out at them, Team Rocket, kicking and screaming and biting, trying to inflict as much harm as possible. I remember the needle pushing itself into my throat and the fluid running into my bloodstream. And then, I blacked out.

My dreams were hazy, colored and confusing. I was in a dress, standing on a stage. People were yelling, screaming my name, cheering me on. But I was not intimidated. I confidently strode out to the middle of the arena, the spotlights only on me. In my hand was an object. A round ball that was half red and half white. I threw the ball into the air, just to see what would happen. The ball opened down the middle and out poured a stream a light. After the short flash subsided, I looked at the creature that had come from the ball. It was short, with a long tall ear and another was bent down. It had fluffy brown fur and a section of white fur that encircled the creature's body almost like a skirt. The thing turned to me and I saw its black eyes light up when it saw me.

"Buneary!" it shouted to me, waving one brown paw over its head. The realization of what it was struck me like a blow to my head. This was a Pokémon. My Pokémon. Carefully, I stepped toward my Buneary. Just as my hands were about to brush its soft brown fur, I was taken away. Stolen away from my dream, away from the one thing that was starting to make sense.

"Get up. Lazy." A cold, sneering voice came from over me. I sat up shakily, thankful though that the tranquilizers had worn off. The boy who had spoke to me had turned away and was walking back to his bed, his longer purple hair swishing in the back slightly. Unsure, I reached out my hand to him, but he did not notice.

"Where am I?" I asked aloud to no one in particular, but I hoped that someone would answer.

"A place that no one gets out of," a voice came from above my head. In shock, I jumped and almost hit my head on the bunk above mine. The male above me swung his legs down and I noticed that his blue jeans were ripped and holey. It looked as though those were his only clothes.

"What do you mean?" I asked as the boy finally hopped down from his bed.

"This is where they put all the crazies who are "too dangerous" to associate with other patients. They forget about us, hidden back here, and I've never seen anyone leave. And I've been here a pretty long time."

I looked over the boy who I assumed would be my new bunkmate. He didn't seem crazy at all. In fact, he was almost handsome. He looked about a year older than me, maybe thirteen. He had thick black hair that spiked out at odd angles underneath a red hat that had a bizarre blue symbol on it. He had gorgeous, cow brown eyes that seemed to blaze with confidence, even in this dreary setting. His other clothes were ripped and worn like his jeans; a navy blue vest and white undershirt.

"I'm Ash, by the way," he said, sticking out his fingerless gloved hand. "Nice to meet you." He flashed me a warm smile.

"I'm Dawn," I replied, taking his hand.

"So, umm, if this is too personal then you don't have to answer, but why are you in here?"

Uh-oh. Here was a subject that I did not want to get into _already_with someone who may actually be my friend. "Uh, umm, to tell you the truth…" I started, nervous.

Ash laughed softly and smiled again. "How about I tell you why I'm here and then maybe you'll get more confident."

I nodded to him and I watched him take a deep breath before he began.

"About three years ago I had this dream. I was in a stadium, surrounded by masses of people, all shouting my name. I felt awesome, on top of the world. Apparently, I was in the stadium to battle someone, so I looked over at my opponent and saw that he had already thrown out his fighter. It was a large creature. It looked like a giant bear and it growled ferociously at me: "Ursaring!". I was scared, but I didn't let that bother me. I looked down to my feet where I saw something standing next to me. It was really short and yellow. It had spiky ears and a lightning bolt shaped tail. I assumed that it was my fighter. I won't bore you with _all _the details, but I have to say that my Pikachu, the yellow mouse I battled with, fought really hard against my opponent's Ursaring. It was a close match, but we ended up winning. Just as I won, I woke up. The next night, I had the same dream. I was in that stadium, only there was a different opponent each time and different Pokémon to be fought. And I had different Pokémon too. Sometimes a little blue turtle named Squirtle, or a giant orange dragon named Charizard. Every time I won and every time I battled, I fell more and more in love with doing it. I had those dreams for about a month before I finally fessed up to my mom what had been happening. That was a bad idea. She freaked out and called this professor that lives nearby. Professor Oak asked me tons of questions and then I was sent off here. I've lived in this asylum for three years. Each year my mom visits on my birthday and on Christmas to deliver a gift. Each time its new clothes because they don't give us any here. She's the only person who ever visits me. Not even Pikachu comes anymore. After my dreams, I started seeing Pokémon for real when I was awake, so I started talking to them. Pikachu used to follow me around everywhere, but those two caretakers, Jessie and James, stole him away somehow. I haven't seen him since. If your wondering how I got _here_ where all the "dangerous" people are, it was because almost a month after I got to the asylum, I snapped and attacked Jessie. I was able to run, but not very far or for very long. I've been here ever since," he finished, putting his arms behind his head.

I couldn't speak for awhile after Ash had finished telling me his story. My mind couldn't fully comprehend everything he had said. His story was so much like mine, the resemblance was uncanny.

"And you see that guy over there?" Ash asked, pointing to the purple haired guy, the first one to talk to me since I had arrived in this room. "In the first ever dream I had about Pokémon battling, _he_ was my opponent. His name is Paul, and I wouldn't talk to him unless it's absolutely necessary. He's always working to devise a way out of here."

**AN: Hi there everyone! This is the first Pokémon story I've ever done so your reviews and criticism is always helpful. If you're slightly confused, please feel free to message me and I'll try to help. Hopefully, later chapters will help you understand the story more. Thank you so much for reading and please READ AND REVIEW!  
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	2. Chapter 2: Paul

Spirals to Insanity

Chapter Two: Paul

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN POKÉMON OR ITS CHARACTERS!**

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"Paul?" I heard my voice ask as my gaze wandered unwillingly over to the stolid figure in the left corner, never moving from his determined pose, staring at the wall, thinking. His darker purple hair was slightly tousled, as if he had run his fingers through it in exasperation. He was bent over, muttering to himself, perhaps making up strategies for escape.

I felt Ash grip my shoulders tightly and whirl my head around to face him so fast that my dark blue bangs smacked the side of my face.

"Are you even listening to me?" he demanded, starting to sound a little annoyed. His dark amber eyes bore into my crystal blue ones and I could not help but feel paralyzed underneath his glare. "Keep away from him if you're smart. His bunkmate is the only one he'll talk to and she's so far gone that no sentence she says makes sense." Ash's gaze traveled over to the bunk in the left corner. I could see a mess of dark auburn hair, laying down it appeared.

I opened my mouth to question Ash about the strange girl lying up there and why she was "so far gone", but a fist abruptly pounded on the steel door, stopping my question in its tracks.

"Alright you lazies! Guys line up now; you're first for your examination. But don't even think about trying to weasel your way out of here now ladies; I've got Jessie to watch over you nutcases!" I recognized James's cold, sneering voice shouting at the people here. Shouting at _us_. Ash shot me a sympathetic glance and ran off to join the already forming line. I looked over the other _prisoners_ living here. First I saw Ash and Paul, seeming to be struggling over the first spot in line. Apparently, Paul won. Then there was a taller boy, probably the oldest out of all of us, with darker skin. Next there was a blonde boy who seemed very energetic despite these dreary surroundings. He was followed by an odd-looking boy with darker green hair and then there was…

A gray figure blocked my view. I glanced upward to see the flaming red hair of Jessie looming over me. She gave me a malicious smile. "So Dawn, how do you like your new home? Filled with all you delinquents. Seen any of your "friends" lately? Huh Dawn? Have you? Pheh. Delusional delinquent, that's what you are. Hey, that's a good name for you, Dee Dee." She let out a malevolent laugh and I was so close to punching her in the face and breaking that pretty little nose of hers, but I didn't, because just then I saw a shadow moving behind her. I squinted in hopes to see the shape better. It was small, lithe, and cat-like. My old cellmate! She had escaped somehow!

"How?" I practically shouted in my head, desperate for a response. It just didn't seem possible that she could have made it out of our impenetrable, steel-coated room. Much to my disappointment, she did not respond. Instead, she padded over to the bunk in the left corner and climbed the ladder up to the top bunk. I saw the dark red blob of hair twitch slightly, and then bolt upright. The girl was shrieking hysterically from sheer joy and Jessie, who was now less than interested in teasing me, took off running to quiet the girl down.

"You're back! You're back! What happened to you?" the girl shouted excitedly. Jessie was furious. I could tell in the way I saw her bright emerald green eyes flash in anger and her fiery red eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. She practically sprinted over to the screaming girl, pulling out a familiar needle from her back pocket. "Espeon! I can't believe it! Where were you?" The girl paid no attention to Jessie's advance on her, she was much too focused on her new found Pokémon. My old cellmate, whose name I just learned was Espeon, turned her small purple head in my direction, her onyx eyes glittering in rage for some reason. Espeon's owner followed her Pokémon's stare, right to me. "You!" she screamed. "You're the one who stole my darling pet? I'll kill you bitch!" She leaped down from her bed and started running after me. Fortunately, Jessie got to her before she got to me. I watched the caretaker carelessly shove the needle in the girl's neck. I watched the girl fall limp in Jessie's arms, her eyes drooping closed. I watched Espeon pad after her owner as she was taken away from our room.

I just stood and watched. My feet felt glued to the floor, I couldn't move, couldn't make a sound. Just tried to comprehend what had happened. I probably stood there for a good five minutes before the door starting banging again from an angry fist. It swung open fast and uncaringly as all the boys were shoved back in the room, some with their wrists still bound, and some chattering excitedly.

Ash stalked over to where I stood silently and put a comforting hand on my shoulder. He could see the terror and confusion in my eyes. "H-how…?" I began, but he held up a hand to cut me off.

"We all heard the story from James. Jessie apparently was pretty pissed, so she ranted the whole tale to him rather loudly. James went over the details that we missed. Poor Paul, he missed everything. Oh, I've gotta tell you what happened during the examination!"

I could not help my eyes from glancing over quickly to the left corner, but both beds were empty for some reason. Why had Paul not returned with the other boys?

"So my examination had just finished," Ash began. "And I hear this big commotion going on in the room over. It was Paul's room. And I started thinking to myself, "Oh Arceus, what did Paul try this time?". Turns out he attacked his doctor, you know, the elderly guy, and took a run for it. No one was able to catch him for the longest time. I hear that he almost made it to the door. But that's when he ran into trouble. The exit door is so big and so well packed with steel that there was no way you could open it with regular force. But Paul didn't have regular force. Somehow, his Torterra was waiting for him by the exit door. Apparently, even though I'm not sure if it's true, he got his Torterra to use Frenzy Plant on the steel door to break through it. I've never been able to get _my_ Pikachu to use any moves when it was walking around with me, only in my dreams. That's why I'm not so sure that that part is true. Jessie and James got to him somehow; they caught him, tied him up, and drugged him, the usual. He'll probably be back here in a matter of hours. But that's pretty crazy stuff, right?"

"Yeah, crazy, ha," I laughed weakly. As Ash was telling his story, I could picture Paul attacking his doctor, sprinting down the halls, trying to avoid every worker; I felt so bad for him. He must have been very desperate to escape to go to those kinds of lengths to do so. As soon as he got back to the room and was able to talk, I decided that I would go and try to get the entire story from him. How _did _he get his Torterra to use a move? I had asked all three of my roommates to try a move on my cell door, but they just looked at me with a blank stare. My other question was, how did Jessie and James get to him so quickly? They both had to have been quite a ways away because they were watching over the examinations. Even if they did start running after him as soon as Paul started his escape, they wouldn't have been able to catch him, they weren't very fast.

"Well, it's been a long day. I'm gonna go catch some shut eye, and I suggest you do the same Dawn. You can talk to Paul tomorrow," Ash finished sourly, interrupting my thoughts. He climbed up to his bunk and kicked back. I decided that the best thing to do would be to follow his lead and do what Ash told me. He was my only friend there anyway. I lay on my bed, my thoughts still swirling. It was only the gentle snore from above me that eventually lulled me into an uneasy sleep.

I was dreaming again. That same dream from before. Where I was standing in the middle of a stage and people were cheering for me. I was again wearing that same dress. Bright, bubblegum pink. Never would I wear something so blinding and childish looking, but here I was standing in front of teams of people wearing a dress that puffed out oddly. This time, instead of having a regular red and white ball in my hand, there was a blue outer coating on the ball. I was positive that it was still the same though, I could see the faint red and white outlines underneath the blue. On the blue covering, there was what appeared to be a sticker. Just a sticker of a blue circle. I had never seen anything like it before, but I wasn't afraid. That was a common theme in my dreams. No matter what inescapable mysteries plagued me, I was always able to maintain my utmost calm under those situations, a far cry from how I am awake. Growing even more confident, I threw the ball into the air, expecting the same flash of light as before. It happened, but also, bubbles seemed to flow from inside the ball. They flowed outwards like an endless stream. Once the bubbles finally stopped coming from inside the ball, together they moved, circling the shape that emerged from the ball. The Pokéball.

"Piplup!" a high-pitched, cheery voice greeted me. The bubbles surrounding the Pokémon slowly popped, one by one, making me wait in anticipation to see my next Pokémon. Finally, all the bubbles were gone and I could fully see the creature standing in front of me. It was short, with light blue feathers and a darker blue back. It had two yellow talons for feet and a round head. Two broad, black eyes stared up at me and I swear that its yellow beak turned up into a smile when it saw my face. I knew this Pokémon. I knew him well.

"Hey Piplup," I smiled to my old cellmate. "Where have you been?" The last time I saw Piplup, he was being taken away somehow by Jessie and James. It seemed like someone else was there too, but my memory was rather distorted at that time because I had been drugged. The idea that someone else was there though, kept nagging on my insides, irking me to not forget. I would have to analyze the exact memory of the day Piplup was taken once I woke up. I needed to–

*CRASH* *BANG*

Erg, what was that? It sounded like some idiot was banging on a pan or something. What in Arceus's name was that? I struggled to blink open my ocean blue eyes, the pale lighting almost blinding me.

"Get up you!" Jessie shouted, already sounding furious this early in the morning. She pounded on her pan a few more times. Slowly, all of us sat up, realized what was going on, and slid out of bed to meet her. Ash stood next to me, a strong and solid figure, but even he looked nervous and puzzled. Paul, I noticed, had been returned to the room, but refused to come over to join the group of us. "Line up all you lunatics! Each of you is going to be put through a strict questioning! Something was stolen last night, and we need to know which of you did it," Jessie shouted, swinging her pan around to point at all of us. "How about you go first Dee Dee," she smiled darkly and grabbed my wrist, dragging me towards the door.

"No, take me," yelled Ash, stepping up from the group. "I, uh, I think I know who did it!"

Jessie stopped in her tracks. Slowly, she turned to face Ash. "Really?" she began sweetly. "Well we'll just have to see." She grabbed his arm, releasing my wrists and pulled him away. Ash turned back quickly to face me. He gave me a cocky thumbs up with his free hand before he turned back around to keep up with Jessie.

I turned around to face the group, but was shocked to see that it had already dispersed. The only person left standing there was Paul, who surprisingly gestured me to come over. He spun around and stalked over to his bunk, and I had no choice but to follow suit. This was the chance I had been waiting for. I was finally going to get to talk to Paul, to ask him about what he had done to try to escape.

Cautiously, I sat down next to the purple haired boy. Without even looking at me, he started. "I assume you want to know all the details of my attempted escape. Honestly, that's all anyone really cares about. It's not about _who _did it, it's about what they can improve upon to get out themselves. But whatever, if you want to hear the story, I'll tell you." He spoke in such a firm, gruff tone that I was impressed to see that he was waiting for me to reply. I assumed that he would either ignore me or start lecturing me about his "heroics". I, of course, nodded to Paul, eager to hear what he actually did to try to flee.

"I had been planning this from the day after the last physical examination we had. The doctors weren't well protected, so I figured that it would be the most ideal time to run. Since I started planning that, I realized that I would need to be able to get through the door. The only option was to use my Torterra. Torterra, if you didn't know, is a Grass and Ground type Pokémon and is the highest evolved form of Turtwig. It knows powerful moves such as Giga Drain, Earthquake, Stone Edge, and Frenzy Plant. I've battled with my Torterra plenty of times in my dreams. Yes, I have the same dreams you and Ash do. Everyone who can see Pokémon has them. Anyway, I've worked with my Torterra in my dreams, but I started wondering, could I practice it in the waking world? So I asked it. And Torterra told me that it would be there when I most needed it, but it was too big to follow me around like other, smaller, Pokémon do with their owners when they're awake. I happily obliged to Torterra's idea of him waiting for me near the asylum exit. And so, I waited. Waited for the day of the physical examination to finally roll around. I was excited. I drew up plans of my escape, the routes I would take. It was all perfect. And then my bunkmate saw my plans. You know, the red head that was taken out of here yesterday because she was screaming about her Espeon? She saw all of my drawings and figures and wanted in on my plan. I wasn't quite ready to include someone else, but I was forced to agree because I couldn't have her running off to tell the caretakers about my plans. She was supposed to be my distraction. Which is what you saw. She most certainly caused a commotion, didn't she? Of course, neither of us had any idea that her Espeon was going to show up at the most inopportune time. But, at least Jessie and James were distracted for a little bit, it was the perfect time to make my run for it. All was going according to plan, I just had to round one more corner and then I would be at the door. Then it would be all up to Torterra to help with the last part. But it came out of nowhere. This thing tackled me to the ground. It covered my eyes before I could get a good look at it. Next thing I knew, scratches were being made all along my arms and Jessie and James had me tied up. I just waited for the needle to pierce my neck and waited for the dreams to come. I woke up in here a few hours later. I can imagine that they're pretty pissed and I'm positive that they'll tell my brother that I tried to escape, but whatever, it's not like they can really _do_ anything to me. So, that's the story. You happy now? Now go away." Paul turned his back to me without another word.

"Wait," I started, my voice sounding very quiet. "You said that you had scratches along your arms, can I look at them?"

Paul let out a groan of annoyance and turned back to me. He rolled up his blue sleeves to show me long, bright pink scars all along his forearm. "There. Now go away." He turned back away. I stood up and walked back to my bunk, not wanting to upset him. But my mind was still whirling with questions. What had attacked Paul? How did it know he was coming? Where did they take that other girl with the Espeon?

"Ash won't be back for a little while now," a voice called to me from across the room. The tall, older boy from yesterday walked up to me and stuck out his darker hand. "We didn't get the chance to properly meet yesterday. My name's Brock and I want to be a Pokémon breeder when I get out of here."

As rude as it sounded, I couldn't help but blurt out, "A Pokémon _what_?" Just as I exclaimed the last question, the door swung open, revealing Ash and what appeared to be a still furious Jessie. She stormed up to where I was standing and thrust her hands onto her hips.

"Still talking about that nonsense huh Dee Dee? Well you're coming in next for questioning and I know this won't be pretty. Our executive has been meaning to talk to you since the attack you performed yesterday. Come with me," she demanded, once again grabbing my wrists and pulling me through the door. Both Ash and that kid Brock gave me terrified glances. Who was the executive Jessie was talking about?

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**AN: Hi there everyone! I'm back with another chapter. And I must say I am so very pleased with all the kind reviews everyone has been giving me. Hot Limit's was especially nice, I couldn't stop smiling after reading it, but everything you guys have been telling me is awesome. I feel so motivated to continue this story! Well, this chapter you got to hear Paul's story, sorta, can you guess whose next? I'll be back with the next chapter soon, thanks for waiting and thanks for reading and READ AND REVIEW!  
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